If you want to shop locally, what I'd probably do is find the longest in length dress that is still pretty enough - and then pair it with a nice cardigan/jacket/balero/etc. Wow it is very hard to find modest dresses! I'm glad I have all boys right now... lol I may just learn how to sew if I ever have a girl....

I never thought of this! Thanks for the tip. We already make turkey noodle soup with the leftover turkey...but I never thought of sticking the whole "carcass" in there too! Although I refuse to call it "carcass" soup. *gag* That makes me thing of something dead and rotting, not something edible. lol

Yes for Halo, but definitely not online. I've seen the online play before when my DH had Xbox Live the first year he had his Xbox. If you are playing against random strangers...you get all kinds of swearing. So absolutely not. That said, I draw the line at certain games which is 99% of M for Mature games. However, I've tried to get rid of Halo many times but my Dh (who is a video gamer also) assures me that Halo isn't "that" bad. Yes it has guns and shooting, but the objects you are shooting are aliens...who have blue/green blood. Not sure how that makes it better, but I guess it has to do with the fantasy aspect, and not very reality-based. My absolutely-not-budging policy on video games is #1 Acts of extreme violence other then guns, or if the graphics are particularly bad...such as Fallout, which my Dh has and I watched him play it the first time and decided that the boys couldn't even be in the room when he plays it., #2 Extreme/excessive swearing. Halo occasionally says "b*stard" which is NOT allowed in this house to say at all. But I wouldn't put it in the extreme swearing category., #3 Sexual content - Inappropriately dressed girls or any thing of a sexual nature.

A new chapter of Classical Conversations is in the works here in the town I live. Its currently operating, but as a trial basis. Its on track to be "certified" or whatever, next Fall. I do not know anything about it other then what my SIL is telling me. She's doing the trial program right now. She has nothing but wonderful things to say about it. Can anyone tell me what I could expect as far as time obligations and costs and curriculum would be? Currently my boys are involved in an ALE school that they really love. Its a school all for homeschooled families that you can choose up to eight classes a week to take, or just as little as one or two classes a week. Right now I have them taking all eight which means a full day (9:30am-3pm) one day and a half day (9:30am to 1pm) another day. The classes are fun and educational, but not extremely academic. For example, my 8 yr old is taking art classes, karate, a Dangerous Book for Boys class, a hands-on history class...etc. If I do the Classical Conversations, I'd strongly prefer to keep at least some classes at their ALE program. I already took them out of PS last year and that was a huge adjustment for my 11 yr old. He's making good friends at the ALE school and I don't want to upset that. BUT there could be a happy compromise of just one full day (which would be five classes) and then one day of Classical Conversations...if CC only meets once a week? The other issue is COST. I'll have three school aged boys, and in another two years I'll have four school aged boys. From what I saw on the CC website, I estimated approx $1300 a year (for the oldest three) total...but that's just program fees. I don't think that includes the curriculum? What is the curriculum that goes with the CC program and how much does that cost? I can cut costs with our other curriculum that we'll do at home, by choosing cheaper programs. I.e. Math Mammoth and Singapore is what I'd probably use for math for all the boys. And shop around for best used prices for their language arts (which I've been enjoying Rod and Staff so far!) Anyway...just making plans for next year. I'd love to hear some ideas and suggestions!!!!!:lurk5:

A good friend of mine just told me that she has to spend Thanksgiving alone with her 2 yr old that has leukemia because his latest round of chemo has made him too sick to travel three hours back home where her husband and five other kids are. I think her Thanksgiving is ruined. :( I try to always be greatful of what I have and thankful that I'll even get to have such good food and be with my, healthy, family. Sometimes things like that just really puts things into perspective. :( I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful!

In in Central WA and we had some snow yesterday and the day before, but it only amounted to about 2". I don't know what the forecast has in store the rest of the week. It has been pretty cold though, expected to get into the negatives tonight. I'm worried about my sister though! She's living in Port Orchard now, and this is her and her husband's first year there. They are both used to big winters in Eastern WA, but I don't know how well they'll be used to tons of crazy traffic and other drivers not as used to bad road conditions! I'm going to call her right now! lol

No - DH's mom is closer to 53 actually I think (she did have BIL and DH fairly young) and my Dh is 34 and his older brother is 36. And yes Grandpa is 40. Grandpa is step-dad to my DH and his brother. He met and married MIL when DH and BIL were (older) teenagers.

Thanks so much for everyone's thoughts and advice. :) I talked to my DH some more about this (no we're not separated) and he understands my concerns, but still insists that he doesn't think his step-father is capable of anything like that. However he said he'd have a casual conversation with DS 6 to see if he says anything to him. Otherwise he says, as of right now, there's really not any way to prove anything - like you all are saying - and we just need to keep our eyes open more and be more cautious. He did end up talking to DS 6 again, but DS6 said the same thing he told me-that he was just joking because he thought it would be funny to say that. There's too many so-called red-flags though to make me feel totally at ease, so as suggested we'll just have to keep our eyes/ears open a bit more and not do the unsupervised visits.

Thanks for everyone for all the advice! Its really been eating me up today and I am just praying I'm wrong. I don't know if my stomach is in knots because of mommy instincts, or just because its a scary subject. It just seems that there are some red flags here, and it may exactly explain why we've had the problems we've had with our 8 yr old. But I don't want this to turn into a witch hunt. Of course my children come first, and I'm the first to jump in and protect my children whenever I have a concern...I just don't want to be "jumping in" if I'm totally off base here. I do know that if it had been my dad, or brother, that my son had said this about - I'd be JUST as worried. Because I know that you just never really know.... I just keep going back to the conversation, and how random it seemed. Yes we were talking about cuddling, and cuddling when we were adults...but how did DS jump from cuddling with his mom as an adult to how gross old people are, specifically that his grandma is not gross but his grandpa is. He spends more time with my parents then he does those grandparents...so it was just kind of, misplaced. Unless he just sees MIL as being "old" and that's why he related MIL into our conversation, and subsequently Dh's step-father. He said that he said this because he thought it was funny...yet he wasn't really being totally silly and giggly when he said it. And...for him to relate showing a "pee-pee" to an adult doing this is weird. I could see him laughing about his brothers showing their pee-pee's...but adults don't show their private parts to him, so why he'd think to say that? I don't know. Could it have been an accidental walking in on the bathroom when he was there? Maybe...but I don't know if he'd say "papa showed me his pee pee" in those words. ? Later as I was questioning him, he kept saying he was sure he was joking...but maybe because my mommy radar flew way up after that initial convo with him, but I didn't fully believe him. He also said, "what if I can't remember the exact day it happened?" when I asked him to tell me whatever, and whenever something happens that makes him uncomfortable, no matter what. So I don't know if he was thinking back to something that happened, or if he was just asking general questions. I do know that I feel like I need to get to the bottom of this, but I don't know that I will without the truth coming out if something did happen. I'd want to warn BIL and his four daughters right away (they are all the same ages as my boys)...but not unless I had more to go on then that one conversation with DS yesterday. (sorry jumping around, but trying to answer other replies I saw in this thread that I haven't addressed yet..) I don't think that BIL and his wife have ever had a concern with FIL, but I do know that last summer they said they weren't going to send their girls over there for a week like they usually do. But they didn't really give a reason why. However they did end up sending two of their girls over together, and my DS went with them at that time. Although, the girls were their a few days before my DS got there, so when they left, he was there alone for a few more days. That was his first time ever going there for a week alone since he's been too young before. My DS 8 has been there 2-3 times alone before. Anyway, I've wrote enough...tomorrow I plan to talk to my DS 8 alone. I plan on telling him a story that I recently heard about a little boy who had a family member do inappropriate things to him (maybe I'll say a cousin or something?) and it made me worry about my own children and how it was okay to talk to me about anything...etc. How would you word something like this?

Off topic of Kate - but I find the Duggars to be a different category then Kate. Yes they publicize their everyday life for everyone to see, but I do believe they have honest attentions...and hey if they can get paid for it too, then great! As far as them having more children because of the TV show...umm no. Its their religious belief. They don't believe in birth control and believe that they will accept any children God gives them. That's not an unheard of belief, actually. I'm sure there are some ladies here with that same belief. Being a growing family, I've learned a lot from the Duggars. I love the way they do things. Michelle doesn't have a baby and hand it off to the oldest to raise. Not at all. In fact when she has a baby, she's pretty much attached to it the entire time its breastfeeding. She's always wearing the baby in a sling, even walking around and resuming homeschooling while baby is breastfeeding. Its true that the older kids help out, and are even assigned as "buddies" to the younger kids...but that's a great system! WHY shouldn't the older kids help out? Michelle is still the parent and does the disciplining...its just part of her older children's responsibilities to help a younger sibling. In fact, I think it was her book (?) that she said one of her son's was so excited to be a big brother helper, that he just couldn't wait until he was old enough to have a "buddy" (or whatever word they use for that). She "assigned" him to the new baby, so that he could be mommy's helper. Anyway, I really like the Duggars and admire what they do and the information they share. I'd rather have 100 Duggars in this world then 100 juvenile delinquents like most of the kids I see walking the streets at night around town. uggh We are trying to raise a smarter, more responsible generation right? The Duggars are just doing their part....

Actually the dementia possibility was in reference to another poster's father. As for the GP in question in my post, he's not elderly at all - he's 40 yrs old actually (16 yrs younger then MIL!). I could talk to DH's brother's wife, but I'm afraid she'd say something to MIL. I think I saw a website posted awhile with questions to ask if something inappropriate had happened, in a way that the child would understand and wouldn't be so scary? Or maybe I'm remembering wrong. I think I will talk to my older DS, carefully. And try to talk to my DS 6 again, but go about it differently....and def no unsupervised visits. I just feel sick over all of this. :(

I really don't know much about it, other then that if I remember right it involved a little girl who was being babysat that accused him. However he adamantly said he didn't do such a thing and took a polygraph test, which he passed, and either the girl recanted her story or else the parents dropped it...I don't really know. I just didn't want to post about things that I can't say for certain happened, I don't remember much about what was told to me.

So the general consensus is to stop unsupervised visits but not confront him. What about the other grandchildren? DH has a brother with four daughters, they also take turns going over to the grandparents' house for a week during the summer, and sometimes more frequent then that. Would you discuss your concerns with DH's brother and his wife? I think MIL would suddenly become very suspicious if none of her grandchildren would be allowed to come stay during the summer anymore. Its been the highlight of the kids and her summer previously. I just feel so bad thinking this because part of me thinks its nothing and I'm making a big deal out of nothing, yet another part is really concerned. I think I will ask my older son, but without naming names as suggested, some general questions. I also think I'll be very wary of, if not ban, unsupervised visits...

That's what DH thought maybe, although I don't know that DS would use the words "show me his pee-pee" if it was an accidental glimpse since he's walked in on DH before?

This is what I think too...but then my other conscious jumps in and says, "wait! False accusations happen. And your son talks about 'pee-pees' often..." If I remember correctly the false accusation involved a lie detector test which he passed and the charges were all dropped...but I'm not sure the whole details on the story.

Yes it does go along these lines. But apparently was a totally false accusation.

Not that often, alone - only once a year probably. Each of the older three boys take turns going there for a week during the summer. Otherwise, that's it since they don't live that close to us.

I was really torn on whether to post this or not, but I think that I can post with some anonymity here... What would you do if your child said something about a close family member that was inappropriate (something inappropriate shown/done to your child)? But immediately after said he was joking, and later during a private talk still insists he was joking. My 6 yr old today was having a silly conversation with me. We were cuddling and I asked if he'd still cuddle with me when he was a teenager, "yes!" he said. I asked if he'd still cuddle with me when he was an adult "YES!" he said...and then added, "but not when you're really old because old people are gross. But not (grandma)!" I laughed and he added "but (grandpa) is gross". "Why?" I asked. And he answered, "because he showed me his pee-pee". Immediate red flags went up and I seriously asked him if that was true. He started backtracking and said, "no! I was just joking". I asked why would he say something like that then and he said "because I thought it would be funny". I continued to talk to him about what was funny and what wasn't, and that if something like that did happen I'd want to know right away and he wouldn't be in trouble, that its my job to protect him no matter what, etc. etc. He didn't seem worried at all, not scared or concerned. He kept saying he was joking. Later on when we talked again, I told him to tell me ANY time something like that happened, anything inappropriate at all no matter who it was. He assured me there was nothing to tell, and then he told on one of his brothers for showing him his "pee-pee". I have five boys, and you can imagine that penis talk is quite normal in this house. So "showing something their pee-pee" is pretty normal vocab for my 6 yr old. Should I freak out? I talked to DH since the person in question is his step-father. He said no way. He said that his step-father isn't "like that" and there wouldn't be any reason for concern. He assured me he'd talk to our dS6 anyway though. It just surprised me I guess. I'm always watching for any warning signs or questionable situations. It scares the heck out of me. Especially how common it seems to be, especially within a family. And we've had some issues with our older son, DS 8, that we've wondered if somehow he'd ever seen anything or had something done to him inappropriate...he just seems more "sexual" then our other boys, and we don't know if that's a personality thing or something else. I don't know DH's step-father well enough to know for sure if he would or wouldn't. I do know that there was something said about him that is concerning, however I never worried about it until something like this came up. I dont' think I should discuss it on a public board though. Dh and I have been married for 9+ years now but we don't have frequent contact with his mom and step-father because they live three hours way and we both are always busy. We see eachother a few times a year though and our sons take turns staying there a week during the summers. I just would never want to accuse someone, especially a close family member, unless I was absolutely certain. So what would you do? Just keep a close eye and continue to have these conversations with your children? Is there something I can say that would make him open up if something were going on and he was afraid to say for whatever reason? Beyond this - my 6 yr old is very normal and happy in every way. He loves going to his grandparents' house and loves his grandparents. He doesn't have any weird issues or anything that would be a red flag or concern me.

No advice! But I didn't want this to get lost in the shuffle. I'm curious to some answers also! lol I am homeschooling only three right now, my fourth and fifth children are still young. I would like to do preschool work with both my fourth and fifth boys (ages almost 4 and almost 2)...but my time is SOOOO tied up with my oldest three (almost 12, almost 9, and 6.5...we have all spring b-days LOL). We only school on Monday, Thursday, and Friday because Tuesday and Wednesday are at a homeschool co-op type program. They get their science, P.E., art/music, etc. all there. So I'm only doing math and language arts...yet still I can't figure out how to do this! LOL I can be pulled apart in three directions. I want to focus more on QUALITY of work not just quantity. I think I'm going to hang out at some large family homeschooling boards and get ideas. lol I also am going to do a blog search. ;) I love to blog hop! My guess though is that I'm going to do a major rearranging of the schedule. Such as schedule blocks for each child and not do math and language arts both on Mon, Thurs Fri...but rather do something like math on Monday (since its less work) and Language arts on Thurs/Fri (includes spelling, handwriting, grammar, writing...). I don't know!! I wish I could help more...

So I've decided on a smaller, compact camera. What would be best compact camera, with video, and excellent picture quality? Its always helpful to read actual first-hand use reviews.

I have a Canon digital Rebel, the model XT from about...four years ago? Its been great and I've loved it. I even got a couple diff lens to go with it (a long lens and a short wide lens). However, I'm not a photographer and I don't know anything about shutter speeds, white balances, etc. So I just left it on auto the whole time and let the camera auto adjust. This last month my camera really went down hill. :( I don't know if its just wearing out or what? The flash stopped popping up (I have to manually pull it up now), and usually out of about every 50 pictures I'll have one that doesn't "process" all the way or something -its only half taken (hard to explain). But then finally last week my camera just stopped turning on. I charged the battery but it just won't turn on. So I'm thinking of just selling it all, with the lens (or lens seperately) as is on Ebay and buying a new camera. :( The thing is...I just don't know what I want!! I know that I don't want just a basic point and shoot. I DO love my high quality pictures that I got from the Rebel. I also loved the zero-wait time between click and picture capture. However that's not a big deciding factor in a new camera for me. I don't think I want a big bulky camera again, but I know that if I want the DSLR features then I would be getting another big bulky camera. I also want video capability. We don't have a camcorder anymore so we haven't had videos of the kids in a long time. I don't know though if it would be better to buy a digital camcorder also. So I seem so wishy washy...lol I guess I just don't know what I want. Preferably a small camera, that takes video, that has superb picture quality, that has the quickest click to capture speed allowable in small non-DSLR cameras....LOL Is that possible?? Any camera suggestions? THANKS!

It affects me the same way! I totally get in the mood to organize and clean after that show. Its good for me! lol It affects my kids too! My 8 yr old watched it with me one time, and afterward he went into his room and started cleaning it. lol

Oh and the suggestion to watch YouTube videos of performances - yes that helps too! He LOVES to watch Youtube videos of piano performances. He'll watch them for hours. It started with Emily Bear - if anyone watches the Ellen show, she was on there twice I think? But she's been on other shows. She's a little piano prodigy and the same age as my son. He has a major crush on her and whenever he sees her play, he gets all fired up to practice and tries to write his own songs. lol

Yep, this is my son totally. All of his recital songs he's learned by notes first, but then just memorized it. Thanks so much everyone for the advice! His piano teacher has him using Piano Adventures- Technique, Performance, Theory, and Lessons- and he's almost done with level 1 now. He started with the Primer level. His two yr anniversary of taking piano lessons is actually this summer - July. Anyway, we just got back from his weekly lesson. He loves his lessons, he loves his teacher, and he loves playing the piano. Even the threat of taking away lessons makes him upset. He just detests practicing!! :( It does help if I'm sitting with him, but I don't know what I'm doing either! lol I really like the suggestions given. If I sit with him it does go better. I think we'll try the flashcards. Also his teacher suggested a website - http://www.musictheory.net Thanks SO much for all the responses!! :)

I'm so frustrated with my 8 yr old son! This piano thing was his idea to start with. A couple Christmases ago he asked for a piano and piano lessons. Totally came up with it on his own, and no one else in our house plays piano. SO we did it. We found a cheap used piano and signed him up for lessons. He loved it at first. He right away showed talent for music. His teacher even said that he's very "musical". He memorized Deck the Halls for his first piano recital piece AND Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. The problem...practice!!! Its gotten worse and worse. Now we're to the point where he's in tears and crying because he doesn't want to practice. But when I threaten to cancel his piano lessons he gets upset and says NO. He likes playing the piano, loves playing songs, but HATES practicing. He still is very good, BUT because he won't practice very much his reading of notes is not very good. He struggles with reading notes. He is a play by ear person. In fact his teacher suggested the Suzuki method for him, but she doesn't know how to teach it. SO...what to do?! Help! :(